Saturday, 29 July 2017

The Naturpark Solling-Vogler in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a large nature park in Germany which uses Heck cattle and Exmoor ponies for extensive grazing on open areas and in the forest for conservational reasons. The nature park has a rich biodiversity and very beautiful landscape (I haven't visited it in person yet).

I came to know this park through this nice NDR documentary. The herd there was already influenced by Taurus crossbreeds, visible in a number of individuals. Some cows, for example, show a body shape and "fighting spirit" reminiscent of Lidia and are probably crossbred with this breed. The old breeding bull, see here, is an obvious crossbreed too - based on its looks, I guess that it is one quarter or one eighth Chianina, the rest Heck. According to the ABU News, two bulls have been purchased from the Lippeaue and been moved into the reserve recently in order to improve the authenticity of the Heck herd there. I am always happy to hear that bulls from the Lippeaue are being chosen as breeding bulls on other locations, as it will slowly improve the overall quality of the Heck/Taurus population in Germany as a whole.

Sunday, 23 July 2017

Sometimes, photos of living cattle inspire me to do aurochs drawings, often based on some anatomical details, such as when the body shape or skull shape is exactly like I would imagine it for an aurochs. In the case of the photo of this Eringer bull, it was the coat that inspired me. Not its colour, which is probably alright (I assume that the dorsal stripe is not visible in this position), but the curly hair on its face, forehead, neck and shoulders. While historic account confirm the presence of curly hair only on the forehead, I believe that more extensive curly hair could have been a trait for at least some European aurochs bulls. For details, go here: Forelocks and manes. So I decided to to a standard aurochs bull in the same position as the Eringer bull with the same kind of coat. My bull is roughly based on my recent reconstructions of the Braunschweig and Sassenberg bulls, and also has pretty much standard horns.

I say that like in the Eringer bull, a narrow eel stripe would not be visible from that position. The mealy mouth would be a bit reduced, as it is a mature, perhaps a bit old bull.

Saturday, 22 July 2017

In the two
previous posts, I outlined why it might be advantageous to introduce some
useful but not currently used breeds into the “breeding-back” population as a
whole. Those breeds would have genetic, morphologic and ecologic benefits and
in the first post, I introduced a selection of European and European-descending
breeds and in the previous one, the Turano-Mongolian cattle group. I also
mentioned that we should get us an overview over the landraces in the Near and
Middle East before they disappear.

I presented
a long list and it is by far not complete. However, for those who wonder what I
breeds I would choose to work with, I decided to write an extra post. Of
course, single breeds that have the right combination of traits could be bred
into existing projects just to increase genetic diversity. But to me, it would
be fun to think of a project that starts completely from a new with these
breeds, and to gain a maximum of genetic diversity from within this set.

I would
acquire cows from Tudanca, Camargue, Barrosa, Angeln (paying attention on
getting such with inwards-facing, aurochs-like horns), Modicana, Avilena
(trying to get well-horned cows), Alistana-Sanabresa and slender Wagyu. Then,
for the first round, I would inseminate the cows with semen from bulls of Texas
Longhorn, Corriente, Florida Cracker (trying to get one from a mother with
aurochs-like horns), Chillingham cattle, Maltese, Yakutian cattle and
well-built other Turano-Mongolian bulls. The combinations do not matter that
much, because in the end all genes will be mixed up. But for breeding bulls, I
would prefer three combinations in the second generations: (Tudanca x Maltese)
x Corriente, (Texas Longhorn x Modicana) x Corriente, (Barrosa x Maltese) x
Maltese. I would also produce individuals for Corriente and Maltese that are at
least 75% pure, mixed with breeds that either supply horn volume (for Maltese)
or size (for Corriente). Since genetics work by chance, one would have to pick
the best individuals of these combinations, and after a sufficient amount of
time, all kinds of possible combinations would be produced and many of them can
deliver good breeding bulls. In general, I would like two breeds to have a
stronger influence in the herd(s), Maltese and Corriente. Maltese because of
their large size, long-legged build and long skulls, and Corriente because of
their aurochs-like build and horns. Some Corriente look like miniature versions
of the best Taurus bulls (f.e. see here) and some even have comparably largehorns.

This mix
would be very diverse at the beginning. Not only genetically, but also
morphologically and regarding colour. I would worry the least about colour, as
it is regulated by the fewest genes (more on that later). Which combinations
are best can only be shown by experience, and also if some breeds do not meet
the appointments. One would have to try it. I am, of course, aware of the fact
that such a project would be very expensive (because of acquiring all the semen
alone), and you would have to start with probably at last thirty animals if you
want to build up a significantly large population and therefore also need the
area size and more money. Apart from that, it would have to be run by patient people,
because a lot of combinations would not look good at the beginning but bear
potential for later generations.

Sunday, 16 July 2017

In the
previous post, I outlined that the genetic basis of the “breeding-back”
population as a whole, when adding up all projects, might not be that broad
considering that many of the projects use the same breeds and also from the
same herds. Therefore, I introduced a number of breeds that have not been used
in “breeding-back” before but might be of similar value as the breeds currently
used. In the previous post, I focused on breeds from Europe. But to gain much
more genetic diversity and also some very advantageous phenotypic traits, I am
going to look at another cattle group in this post: Turano-Mongolian cattle.

Turano-Mongolian cattle

First of
all, many might wonder what are Turano-Mongolian cattle. They are a genetically
distinct group of taurine cattle1, once even considered to have been
domesticated independently (which is debunked now, all taurine cattle seem to
have originated in the Near East2). They are to be found in Asia and
have also been slightly influenced by other taurine cattle and zebuine cattle1.
Nevertheless, they are probably only very distantly related to the breeds used
in breeding-back and probably would boost the genetic diversity dramatically.

But they
offer several other advantages as well. I introduce a number of
Turano-Mongolian breeds now that I looked up so far.

Unfortunately,
as all interesting and unique landraces, they are threatened by dilution with
derived breeds.

Yakutian cattle and other Siberian breeds

Siberian Turano-Mongolian
cattle, especially Yakutian cattle, are extremely resistant to very low
temperatures (probably more so than wild aurochs, which seemingly never lived
in regions of -35-50°C). They have adaptions like a very thick winter coat,
small udders, short scrota and dewlaps and, which is unique among cattle, show
a torpor at low temperatures. Crossbreeding with Yakutian cattle could be very
beneficial for breeding-back because of these traits. F.e. Taurus cattle at
Hortobagy are reported to be less resistant to the cold and dry winters in the
Puszta than the Przewalski’s horses, and Yakutian genes could help them to
survive the winters without supplementary feeding. Furthermore, Yakutian cattle
would compensate that the fact most of the breeds currently used and those that
I proposed before are from the subtropical zone. Yakutian cattle would be the
perfect ecological compensation for the African Watussi being used in at least
two projects/breeds (Hungarian Taurus cattle, Watussi).

They
display several colour variants, wild type colour among it. Mongolian rural
cattle might be of similar value.

East-Asian Turano-Mongolian breeds

Mishima cow

Yanbian cow

Bulls of a) Hanwoo, b) Chikso, c) Heugu, d) Jeju

Wagyu bull

another Wagyu bull

Precisely I
am talking about the breeds Wagyu, Mishima, Yanbian, Kalmyk (a steppe breed
again), Kuchinoshima and some native Korean cattle, and there might be more. They
are robust landraces, but mostly very small (bulls below 130cm at the withers).
But what strikes me is their aurochs-like build, especially in Yanbian and
Mishima. They have a short, deep ribcage with a pronounced hump, horns that are
small but sometimes of useful curvature and large skulls that are not
paedomorphic. That black Mishima cow alone has a very aurochs-like morphology,
actually if it had the right colour and horns it would match up with my
conception of an aurochs cow extremely well. Their small size might be
problematic, but I think their distant genetics, good anatomy and ecologic
capacity are of great value. Crossbreeding them with f.e. Maltese, a very large
breed that is superbly built already, might result in some very useful animals.

I think
that the advantages of Turano-Mongolian cattle are rather obvious. However, one
might argue that their distinct genetics make them “unique” and therefore they
should not be crossbred with other taurine cattle in breeding-back. But I think
this argument would be a little bit absurd under consideration that it is
universally agreed that a rich gene pool is viable for any population and
therefore another, parallel goal of breeding-back.

One major
problem however is the geographic distribution of Turano-Mongolian cattle. With
the exception of the popular Wagyu, which is also breed in Europe, their
distribution is quite far away from Europe. So maybe one would have to rely on
semen once again, which is way easier than importing a number of cattle over
such large distances.

The
introduction of Turano-Mongolian cattle into the “breeding-back” population would
probably be very advantageous concerning genetic diversity and also ecologic/morphological
traits. Another region that might hide some treasures for “breeding-back” is the
Near and Middle East. Actually, that region seems to be uncharted land for
“breeding-back”, but I am sure that there are a lot of very un-derived
cattle to find. They are probably mostly small-bodied and small-horned, but I
am confident that many of them will exhibit aurochs-like colour and morphology.
Genetically, the chance is good that they will be comparably diverse, since
this is the region where the aurochs was domesticated. Many of them will
probably also be influenced by zebuine cattle, but zebuine genes are hardly
avoidable. The pictures below show two individuals from Egypt, randomly
discovered on some news flash on the web on a totally different subject.

If I was to
conduct an expedition to find primitive taurine cattle, I would go there to get
an overview over those landraces, especially since they are probably
threathened by being diluted by crossbreeding with highly derived breeds as
well.

Friday, 14 July 2017

I am very happy to read that, especially that it is a bull calf - it will surely be an impressive sight when fully grown. I am very much looking forward to see what it is going to look like - the colour, body shape, size and curvature of the horns. I think that a combination like 75% Sayaguesa and 25% Watussi or a good F2 of both breeds might resemble the aurochs quite satisfyingly. Just imagine Sayaguesa with large, thick horns - it might be comparably close to the goal already; not perfect immediately, of course. Taking such individuals (either 75% Sayaguesa 25% Watussi or good F2) and crossing them large, well-built F2 Sayaguesa x Chianina has the potential to result in quite superior animals in my opinion. Thus, I am also happy to read that the beautiful Chianina bull Bruno has been moved to Bielefeld to cover the three other Sayaguesa cows for this year. That means finally some more Sayaguesa x Chianina crosses - I am so much looking forward to F2 of this combination. When Bruno is back from his "job", he is going to cover at least one of the Watussi cows. It is very enjoyable to see how the Auerrindprojekt is getting going.

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Genetic
diversity is an essential trait a population must have for being fit to be
released into the wilderness. A genetically diverse population has a higher
chance for adapting against diseases, predators and other obstacles of living
in the wild and also enables a higher speed of adaption (Fisher’s fundamental
theorem). So it is not only important to breed aurochs-like cattle for
aurochs-like traits and ecological suitability, but also to keep the
population(s) genetically diverse at the same time.

Now that we
have a couple of breeding-back projects and breeds (Taurus cattle and good Heck
cattle, the Tauros Project, the Uruz Project*, the Auerrind Project), how broad
is the genetic basis?

Sayaguesa
is a breed that is used in four of these breeds/projects (Taurus, Tauros,
Auerrind and probably Uruz), and at least three of them got their current
individuals from the same herd in the Netherlands (owned by Peter van
Geneijgen). Taurus and Auerrind both use Chianina, and got their animals from
the same herd of Rainer Titzentaler. So the animals are related to some degree.
Heck cattle originally had a broad genetic basis because the Hecks gathered
breeds from all over Europe in a time when there was less exchange, but went
through several genetic bottlenecks so it is questionable if the breed can
still be considered genetically diverse despite its large phenotypic
variability; especially since one of the best herds that recently had a big
influence on many good Heck herds, the former herd of Walter Frisch, is an
inbreeding line.

* It has been long ago that the True Nature
Foundation gave clear information on this project, and it seems that there has
been one more split, so I have to neglect this project here for now.

Although I
think that genetic diversity can be overrated as well (look at feral cattle
populations that have a long history – many of them have a narrow genetic
basis) as long as the animals are genetically healthy and do not carry too many
deleterious alleles, and the genetic base that we currently have is probably
enough for the sporadic, small-patched possibilities of releasing them into the
wild in modern Europe especially if there will be exchange between the
different populations in the future (which I hope, more on that in an upcoming
post). The easiest way to increase the genetic diversity of the “breeding-back
population” as a whole would be to either cross in breeds currently not used or
create new herds working with new breeds. This would not imply a decrease in
quality since the breeds currently used are not necessarily the best of the
best, but there are many other cattle breeds on this world that are just as
advantageous. The choice of the current breeds probably depended on
availability, coincidence, experience et cetera. With this and the following
post, I want to outline a number of breeds that would be just as good as, in
some cases even better, than the breeds currently used in order to inspire
people working in projects or planning to set up new projects.

But before
that, I want to give an overview over the breeds currently used in
“breeding-back” and in which project (italics):

Additionally
to that, there are breeds that are not used in the form of pure individuals but
single crossbred animals like Tudanca (Tauros), Holstein (Taurus), Alistana-Sanabresa
(some of the Sayaguesa in Taurus, Tauros and Auerrind).

There are
plenty of alternatives to the current breeds in Europe alone, and with the set
of breeds that I am going to introduce here it would probably be possible to
gain all the desired aurochs-like traits to a more or less satisfying extent.
There are of course many alternatives from other places of the world as well,
but I start with the continent breeding-back is focusing on.

Note that I
completely leave aside unpublished claims on alleged genetic proximity to wild
aurochs here. Furthermore, of course all of these breeds have their con’s as
well, you would have to pick the right breeds to cross them with – so if your
first reaction to my proposal of this and that breed is something like “what,
this breed, look at its tiny horns”, I am of course aware of that and would
therefore propose to use it in a combination with a breed that compensates this
deficiency, and so on.

Alternatives
in Europe (incl. breeds of European descent)

Angeln

The presence
of this breed on my list might surprise, but there are Angeln cattle that exhibit
two precious traits: long snouts, especially in cows, and inwards-curving horns
in an aurochs-like manner. Furthermore, they should be well-suited to Central
and Northern European climate. One would, of course, have to avoid individuals
with huge udders and other derived traits. By the way, Angeln cattle were also among the founding breeds of Heck cattle, which shows in a number of individuals.

Agerolese

Agerolese
is a crossbreed of native Italian cattle with more derived, northern breeds
like Frisian, Jersey and Braunvieh. They are very small (bulls only 130-135cm
at the shoulders) and so are their horns, but their colour is aurochs-like with
some degree of sexual dimorphism and the curvature of the horns often is
acceptable as well.

Alistana-Sanabresa

This breed
is being used indirectly in the form of Sayaguesa individuals slightly influenced
by that breed, but if one needs another breed that is similar in build and horn
shape with slightly larger horns and a lighter colour (in both sexes though),
this breed is an option.

Avilena

This breed
is rather similar to Sayaguesa too and probably closely related. They are
smaller though, and seem a bit more bulky. Many carry the Ed mutation which causes a wholly black colour, but the
wildtype allele E+ is
present as well.

Busha

Just based
on their optics, Busha do not really knock me off the socks. However, they are
probably suited very well to the climate of the Balkans (and other regions of
Europe) and can be a basis for cross herds.

Barrosa

Many
Barrosa are small, bulldog-faced and dachshund-legged, and their horns are not
that thick. But I am sure that in the variability of the breed individuals can
be found that are higher in build with less shortened faces and good, thick
horns. Such individuals would be a good option to crossbreed with f.e.
Sayaguesa and similar breeds. As for its similar sister breed, Cachena, I
consider it a bit too small, stubby and short-faced.

Betizu

Betizu
would be a prime option because of their feral history. Of course they are
small, have dilution factors that modify their coat colour and their horns are
not good either, but that can be compensated by crossbreeding.

Caldela

Another
breed that is rather similar to Sayaguesa in looks, but smaller (140cm for
bulls, ~130cm for cows).

Camargue

Camargue
could be very advantageous because of their high-legged, slender and athletic
build. The horns are rather upright (but they curve inwards) and they do not
have the wildtype colour allele, but I think this breed would be rather
advantageous. They are rather small, but I think their deer-like elegance is
precious. Nowadays, they are often crossed with Lidia, so one would have to pay
attention on not picking too aggressive and massively built individuals.

Chillingham

The
advantage of this breed is that they have been living under rather harsh
conditions for centuries and are resistant to a number of diseases like
foot-and-mouth disease. Their century-long life in a virtually feral state must
have left traces in natural and social instincts and resistance to climate
which would be rather beneficial for a breeding-back population. Apart from
that, they are not closely related to the mostly Southern European breeds
currently used. They have large, sometimes long-snouted heads and single
individuals have a remotely aurochs-like horn curvature. This breed is rare, only
two herds exist, but maybe the cattle warden would be willing to make one young
bull available.

Corriente

Corriente
have a rather aurochs-like, muscular build with a well-pronounced hump. Their
legs are slender, some have long snouts as well. The horn curvature is good to
very good in single individuals. They display a number of colour variants and
an accurate aurochs colour is among them. Corriente would be as beneficial as
Lidia, without being overly aggressive or bulls growing heavily massive at high
age. The biggest disadvantage is a logistical one: it is an American breed and
importing individuals would be very effortful. So maybe they could only be used
via semen. For some videos showing Corriente with a good build and horn shapes,
go here or here.

Eringer

The
disadvantages of this breed are obvious: small, massive, bulldog-faced and
dachshund-legged. However, my proposal of this breed here is based on a
discussion on the Carnivora Forum Aurochs thread, where Eringer was discussed
being used as a “quantity breed” for building up cross herds, in the same way the
Tauros Project is using Highland cattle. As a sole “quantity breed”, Eringer
would probably be more advantageous than Highland cattle. Plenty of them have
the right colour, a muscular body with a hump, and thick horns slightly curving
inwards. They are probably suited to central European climate.

Florida
Cracker

This breed
is small, but advantageous because rather hardy and what is very precious: a
lot of cows have very aurochs-like, strongly inwards-curving horns (there are
no bulls with aurochs-like horns however, but this is a general phenomenon in
domestic cattle). They exist in many colour variants, aurochs-like colour among
them. Like other American breeds, they would have to be either imported or used
via semen.

Maltese

Maltese
cattle would be a rather awesome breed to work with. It is said to be of the
same size as Chianina, but expresses mostly an undiluted wildtype colour, is of
a magnificent build and has rather long snouts. The problem is their very small
population, so their availability would depend on if the owners would be
willing to provide a project with semen of a bull or not.

Modicana

Modicana is
an Italian breed that could be very useful. It has a build that is rather
similar to Pajuna, some individuals are slender and well-shaped and they are
large according to the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System (160cm for
bulls, 145 for cows). The horns are not impressive, but I would suggest using
that breed at any time if they are that large indeed.

Murciana

Body shape
and size of this breed are not sensational, but some cows seemingly have horn
shapes that could be useful for crossbreeding, and they have retained some
degree of colour dimorphism (though, as in most cattle breeds, imperfectly).

Pisano

This
Italian breed is comparable to Agerolese, but not as small (140-155 for bulls).
It is influenced by Chianina and Braunvieh, has an acceptable body shape and
good colour. The horns are tiny.

Rendena

Rendena is another small Italian breed with a good colour and average body, it is probably the most aurochs-like alpine breed.

Serrana-Negra

This breed
is, like Avilena, comparable to Sayaguesa and probably closely related, but
smaller and less long-legged. Good individuals would probably still be a useful
basis for crossbreeding, especially since some cows, just like in Sayaguesa,
have aurochs-like horns.

Terrena

Terrena is
perhaps comparable to Pajuna or Limia, and small and rare. However, their body
shape and colour is fine. The horn curvature mediocre.

Tudanca

Tudanca is
used in the form of some half-Tudanca individuals in the Tauros Project.
However, I suggest also using it on a larger scale. Regarding its size, the
DADIS contradicts itself: it gives a withers height for bulls of 165cm and
160cm for cows and states “small sized with great sexual dimorphism”. Based on
most videos I have seen I dare to doubt that they reach large sizes on average.
Nevertheless, some Tudanca have a rather good body shape (see the videos here
and here), their horns are at the edge of what I would call “large”, skull
shape is ok. They have the same dilution allele as Podolian cattle and
Grauvieh, but dilution alleles can hardly be avoided. Some bulls are wholly
black without a saddle, cows always lightly coloured.

Texas
Longhorn

This breed
is comparably small, but rather hardy. The big advantage however is that it one
of the very few more or less aurochs-like breeds that have really large horns.
The only aurochs-like breed that rivals Texas Longhorn in having decently long
and thick horns are large-horned Heck cattle. They display many colour
variants, including aurochs-coloured individuals. One would have to pick the
right individuals.

Vianesa

Vianesa is
rather similar to Limia, although the bulls tend to be rather lightly-coloured.
Body shape and horns are acceptable. They are not large, comparable to Heck
cattle in size.

Now I
briefly introduced a lot of breeds (I could have introduced even more), many of them are from the Iberian
peninsular and some of them might be closely related to each other and/or some
of the breeds already used. The gain of genetic diversity would be much higher
when including cattle from the group I am introducing in the next post, and
they would also bring some phenotypic advantages.

About this blog

This blog is on everything related to the so-called “breeding-back” of extinct animals: From the extinct animals themselves, over their often domestic descendants and dedomestication to news and facts about various breeding-back projects, reports and photos from my own breeding-back related trips. I try to have a balanced and fact-based approach to this subject and to dismantle many of the popular myths. Enjoy!

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About me

My major interest always have been extinct animals, from dinosaurs to Pleistocene megafauna and more recent extinctions. Besides that I am interested in evolution, genetics and ecology.
I am also an amateur animal artist, making drawings and models mostly of extinct animals.